Confession validness?

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Alexander3450

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Any help would be greatly appreciated:

So I am preparing to go to confession. I am truly sorry for my sins, and I want absolution. But there is one problem. I have already agreed to go to an AC/DC concert with my parents. I know that in order to be absolved, you have to have a firm intention not to commit the sins again, but if I go to confession, a few weeks after, I’ll be attending this concert. I feel really bad now and I honestly don’t care for this concert anymore (I have even taken down a poster of them featuring the “highway To Hell” album from my room), but the tickets have been bought, dates have been set and plans have been made.

I honestly don’t view going to concerts as a sin. Maybe for a person who is praising this band for their lyrics to there “darker” songs, but I simply love the guitar playing. I am there for the guitar. I also do not view the band as satanic, nor do they cause me to sin.

But if I go to confession, Is this confession valid? I really don’t want to go to the concert if it is sinful, but for my reasons of going, I don’t think it is. And I don’t want to go to confession, get invalidly absolved, and have to go again to confess the same sins. I need some guidance. thank you 🙂
 
If you don’t mind saying, what sin are you talking about here?
 
Concerts are morally neutral. If you don’t commit sin at the concert or because of the concert… then go and ROCK ON!
 
Thank you 🙂 I also submitted this to the Ask An Apologist, so I’ll see what they think too. But I think I’ll wait till after the concert. Not that I don’t trust you, but I haven’t “really” examined my conscious as much as I could have, and I could pray for repentance a little more (its irrational to think something as important as confession could be something you can say “oh yeah, I’ll go tomorrow” on the whim – it requires preparation :))

Also, if I wait, and my priest finds going to the concert a sin (as I’ll ask) then I can confess it there, instead of going, asking him if it is a sin, and getting the answer yes, possibly making my confession invalid.

God bless everyone though 🙂
 
Alexander3450 said:
Thank you 🙂 I also submitted this to the Ask An Apologist, so I’ll see what they think too. But I think I’ll wait till after the concert. Not that I don’t trust you, but I haven’t “really” examined my conscious as much as I could have, and I could pray for repentance a little more (its irrational to think something as important as confession could be something you can say “oh yeah, I’ll go tomorrow” on the whim – it requires preparation :))

Also, if I wait, and my priest finds going to the concert a sin (as I’ll ask) then I can confess it there, instead of going, asking him if it is a sin, and getting the answer yes, possibly making my confession invalid.

God bless everyone though 🙂
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You can ask the priest in advance as well. If you deliberately commit a sin, or deliberately avoid finding out whether something is a sin, with the intention of simply confessing it later, you risk commiting the additional sin of presumption, which can be a mortal sin.

Now I’m not totally convinced that going to such a concert is sinful, but you may want to ask a priest in advance anyway. At the very least, if you don’t get an answer from the AAA forum, send a private message to one of the apologists directly. They’re usually pretty good about getting back to you. This way you can have your answer in advance and get to confession sooner.
 
The three conditions for a mortal sin are

  1. *]its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter;
    *]it must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense (though nobody is deemed to be ignorant of the moral law, embedded into the consciences of every human being);
    *]it must be committed with deliberate and complete consent, enough for it to have been a personal decision to commit the sin.
    For a venial sin just stick not in front of each of the above conditions.

    If you are going just to listen to some guitar playing and you arent idolizing the band in place of God or something like that then I dont see any sin that would break any of the Ten Commandments.
 
Sounds to me like you’re being too scrupulous - which is a problem for a lot of people, myself included. Just be aware of it!

There is no sin in rock music. I listen to ‘satanic’ Black Metal etc and unless it causes you to sin, it is not intrinsically evil - despite what some people who are outside of the scene who don’t understand it might say. Also bear in mind that not everything your priest says will be correct - stuff like penance is more morally binding but his opinions on stuff is just that - his opinion. Use your conscience! There is wisdom in you! If, after a careful examination of conscience, you really don’t think there is any sin, who can hold you accountable? Pray that God reveals the truth to you, as He will.

IE that there is no sin in rock music.
 
One point I believe needs to be brought up:

How old are you?

There is a commandment to honor your parents. If they have requested you to attend, I would think you should be obedient to them. The only time you should not be obedient is if they order you to sin. I can’t see a concert as sinful. In fact, even if the band is sinful/evil I don’t think there is any “formal cooperation” with evil as it is not your intent to go in order to further evil.

I think it is best for you to go and simply be an example to others by your behavior.
 
Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone for there wonderful responses. I always looked to this forum as a place for Catholic advice until one day I finally decided to make an account. Yes, I tend to be a bit scrupulous, well a lot, actually ;). I agree with 99% of what people have said on this topic, but I’ll ask my priest before mass next week (he always waits outside, and I’ll call him to the side, and ask him what he think of this, but I also have other questions, which I could ask him next time during confession). Thanks to everyone, BUT if you feel like you want to add something else, this discussion isn’t closed 🙂 I always like to here opinions. Again, thanks 🙂
 
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